‘Dilemma’ posed by new Netflix doco
Опубликованно 01.10.2020 18:45
People have been alternatively wowed by the connected world social media creates and scared by just how much data it collects and the impact it has on our lives.
Now a new Netflix documentary/drama, The Social Dilemma, has gone inside the workings of the platforms that have such a huge impact on our daily lives and it has left many shocked.
The film argues tech and social media platforms have been deliberately designed to addict us and profit off our attention and digs into the algorithms used to drive the content we see.
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A teen gets addicted to ‘extreme centrist’ content thanks to social media algorithms in the drama-documentary.
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It quotes statistician Edward Tufte who says “there are only two industries that refer to their customers as ‘users’: illegal drugs and software” and warns that “if you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product”.
It argues its our attention that is being sold to advertisers, and this is the main product not the services social media platforms build and deliver.
The film also includes a fictitious case study of a typical American family, where the two younger children are addicted to their phones and social media while their older sister tries to bring them back to the real world.
The teenage boy of the family becomes addicted to “extreme centrist” content fed to him by an algorithm and when he tries to attend a political rally, his sister is arrested trying to save him from violent protesters.
At first glance The Social Dilemma is enough to put you off social media and your smartphone for good, and that was the immediate reaction of many.
There was a chilling moment in the doc where the guy who ran monetisation for FB was asked what he worried about most as the consequence of what they have done.“Civil war” he said. And he meant it.— Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) September 25, 2020
The Social Dilemma has made me want to throw my phone in the bin
Категория: Интернет
